Benjamin Harris; Broker, C.S.S.

Archive for the ‘Seller Reports’ Category

I.    Exterior

A.    Grass and shrubs. Keep trimmed. Consider a fast-greening fertilizer such as ammonium sulfate (inexpensive) for a deep green lawn.

B.    Pets. If you have a dog, clean up any dog dirt on a daily basis. If you have a cat, change the litter box daily. Pets should be restrained or kept away from the property when it is to be shown.

C.    Fences. Make any needed repairs. A neat, well-painted fence gives a positive impression.

D.    Flowers. Plant seasonal blooming flowers, especially near the front door and in any patio area. A profusion of color can have your home half-sold before the door is even opened.

E.    Bird feeders. Hummingbird feeders and bird houses create a pleasant mood, especially when they are close to any patio area.

F.    Paint. Concentrating on the following two areas may be the most profitable:

1. Front door. Front door should be refinished or painted if it shows excessive wear.
2. Condition of exterior paint. Often only the trim or, depending on sun exposure, only one or two sides of the house need painting. Keep in mind that paint is cheap compared to the extra dollars a home with a clean, fresh appearance will bring.

G.    Lawn furniture. Place lawn furniture and barbeque in an attractive, leisurely manner. A badminton net or croquet set-up gives a positive image as well.

H.    Roof. If the roof needs to be repaired or replaced, it’s best to have the work done. Otherwise, buyers will want to deduct the cost even if your price already reflects the required work. Delaying repairs can actually cost you twice as much.

II.   Interior

A.    Housekeeping. Because you are competing against model homes, your home must look as much like a model as possible. Floors, bath fixtures, and appliances must be sparkling. Consider using a car wax on appliances. Make beds early in the day. Unmade beds and late sleepers create a very negative image.

B.    Odors and aromas. Avoid heavy frying, using vinegar, or cooking strong-smelling foods. Odors often last and work against the image you are trying to create. On the other hand, some smells have a positive effect on people: Baked bread, apple pie, chocolate cookies, and cinnamon rolls are examples of foods that can help sell your home. Consider keeping packaged cookie or bread dough in the refrigerator. Just before a scheduled showing, the smell of these baking foods can be a great help to us. If you or your family members smoke, don’t smoke in your home and don’t allow guests to smoke. Stale tobacco odors can be masked with some odor sprays. If the temperature allows it, open windows and air out the house every morning.

C.    Paint. If you have leftover paint, you can accomplish a great deal by doing touch-ups where needed. If the surface is dark, repaint with light colors such as off-white, oyster, light beige, or pale yellow. Light colors make rooms appear fresh as well as larger.

D.    Plumbing. Repair any leaky faucets. Make certain that you don’t have a gurgling toilet.

E.    Shades and blinds. Replace any torn shades or broken blinds.

F.    Drapes. If drapes need cleaning, have it done. If they are old and worn, stained or dark, consider replacing them with either light-colored drapes or off-white vinyl vertical blinds. (Large discount and home improvement centers usually carry standard sizes at reasonable prices.)

G.    Carpets. Dirty carpets should be either professionally steam-cleaned (preferred), or you should rent a heavy-duty cleaner. If the carpet is badly worn, replace it with new carpet (and a quality pad) in a neutral color. Consider either a plush or Berber carpet.

H.    Lighting. If any room appears dark, increase the wattage of your light bulbs. Before a showing, open the blinds and drapes and turn on the lights, even during the day—you want the house as bright as possible. Be sure that your light fixtures and windows are clean.

I.    Closets. If closets appear crowded, remove items not needed and put in boxes. They can be stacked neatly in a corner of the basement, attic, or garage.

J.    Too much furniture. Many homes appear crowded, with too many pieces of large furniture and too much bric-a-brac. Consider putting excess furniture in a storage locker.

K.    Garage and basement. Spruce up your work area. Consider a garage sale to get rid of items you no longer need. Put excess items in boxes and stack them neatly in a corner. Consider using a commercial garage floor cleaner on oil and grease marks on the garage floor and driveway. You might consider a commercial steam cleaner (not a carpet cleaner).

L.    Temperature. On cold days, a natural fire in the fireplace will help us sell your home. Start the fire before the showing is scheduled. On hot days, consider turning the air conditioner four to five degrees cooler than normal. The contrast will seem phenomenal, making a very positive impression. In moderate weather, open windows for fresh air.

III.  Your Best Role During Showings

A.    When your home is shown, it’s best that you disappear. Buyers feel restrained with an owner present. If buyers hesitate to voice their concerns, then their questions cannot be answered and their problems cannot be solved.

B.    If you must remain, try to stay in one area. Excellent places to be are working in the garden, on the lawn, or in the workshop. These activities create a positive image. While soft music is fine, turn off the TV.

I look forward to assisting you with the sell of your home or investment property.

Benjamin Harris

Congratulations on the successful sale of your home. Hopefully, everything went smoothly and you will be vacating your house in the time frame that you had anticipated. You should make a list of all the items you will need to do to turn the property over to the new owners. You will need to do such things as make sure that all of the local services (i.e. electricity, gas, lawn care, cable, etc.) have been canceled or, if the new owner is going to retain some of the services, the name for the account should be changed. The property and anything assigned to the buyer according to the contract, should be prepared appropriately for the new owners.

As your agent, I will save you time and money by helping you coordinate your move. I will help you develop checklists that you can use to make sure that everything is done so that your move goes as smoothly as possible.

This is where ownership is legally transferred to the buyer. As the seller you will need to be prepared to give over any necessary documentation regarding the property and, depending on the arrangements made during negotiations, you may be required to have done something specific in order to close. Be sure and read all the documents. Mistakes are more common than you might think.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by being present during the closing to help explain the process and forms to you and make sure everything goes as planned. By being present during the closing, I will be available to mediate any last minute issues that may arise. Something always seems to come up!

A few days before the closing you will want to contact whichever entity that is closing the transaction and make sure that all of the necessary forms and documents have been prepared and are going to be available to sign on the appropriate date. It would be a shame to get this close to selling and have the deal fall through because of a document not being at the right place at the right time. You should also begin to make arrangements for your upcoming move if you have not done so.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by making sure that all of the necessary documentation is prepared for closing. I will also make sure that all parties have done what they need to do so that the closing can proceed at the date and time planned.

Once you have accepted an offer to sell your house you will need to make a list of all the things you must do, and a list of all the things the buyer must do, in order to proceed successfully to closing. The property may need to be formally appraised, surveyed, inspected or repaired. Depending on the specifics reached during the negotiations, you may pay for all, some, or none of these items. If each procedure returns acceptable results as defined by the contract, then the sale may continue. If there are problems with the property the terms set forth in the contract will dictate your next step. Depending on the contract, you or the buyer may decide to walk away, open a new round of negotiations, or close.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by coordinating all the necessary items that must be done to finalize the sale. I will be directly involved and keep you informed as to the results of each action and what effect, if any, it will have on the sale of the property. I will also help you coordinate any actions you must take to keep the sale moving forward. There are some sales that go smoothly and some that require a lot of work to get to the closing table. Until you get into it, you won’t know which one you have on your hands. Either way, I will prove to be a valuable resource to you.

Most offers to purchase your house will require some level of negotiating to come to a win-win agreement. It is critical that you be well versed on the legalities of a real estate contract. In addition to legal issues, you will need to understand contract basics, including what each contract clause means to you and your buyer, what you will net from the sale of your home, and what areas in the contract lend themselves easiest to negotiation. Some of the things that you may have to negotiate on are:

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The price
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Financing
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Closing costs
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Repairs that need to be done
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Appliances and fixtures
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Landscaping
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Painting
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Occupancy time frame

To really gain some insight into why potential buyers are pursuing the purchase of your house and how they might proceed in the negotiations, it is important to know as much about the buyer as possible, especially their motivation for buying. Once both parties have reached a point where the deal is acceptable, you must be certain that you have a legally executable contract.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by representing you through the offer, negotiation, and acceptance process. I will review the written offer with you to make sure that you thoroughly understand what the buyers are offering and what they are asking in return. I will be able to help you understand the issues and how they will effect you. It is my primary responsibility to protect your best interest throughout these negotiations.

Once a buyer decides they would like to buy your house, an offer will be presented. Review the written document taking care to note what needs to be done by both parties to execute the transaction. The contract should protect the best interests of all parties involved and should be comprehensive in nature. Once you accept the contract, it may be too late to make any changes. The contract, though not limited to this list, should include the following:

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A legal description of the property
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The offering price
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The down payment
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Financing arrangements
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A list of fees and who will pay them
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Amount of the deposit
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Inspection rights and possible repair allowances
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The method of conveying the title and who will handle the closing
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A list of appliances and furnishings which will stay with the home
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The settlement date
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Any relevant contingencies

Remember that the legalities of this phase are very important. If you have any questions or concerns, they need to be addressed right away.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by making sure that the offer is presented to you by a qualified buyer. There is no reason to review an offer if the person(s) making it will not be able to actually buy your home. as your agent, I will also be available to review the written offer to make sure that it is written in a proper way and covers the necessary areas.

Now that your house is ready, it’s time to put it up for sale and market it. Establishing a marketing strategy is a must. You will have to decide how you want to get the word out there that your house is for sale. There are many different ways to advertise your property. A yard sign, flyers, and direct marketing are just a few of the many options you have. The path you choose will depend on the money you have to invest, which program will bring the most potential buyers, and your comfort and experience level with each of your options. If you are in a buyer’s market you will have to be extra careful when choosing a plan. You don’t want your house to sit with no one showing interest. The first 3-6 weeks should be the busiest. If you don’t get any traffic within that time frame, you may want to reconsider your approach.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by exposing your house to the most potential buyers possible. I will present to you the best marketing plan that will have the highest possibility of bringing not only the most buyers, but the most qualified buyers, to your doorstep.

It’s time to get your house into “showing and selling” condition. Most of us don’t keep our homes in the condition it would need to be in to sell. Over the years those boxes in the corner of the garage just seem to multiply on their own. Things have broken that we just never get around to fixing and some things have just worn out. We just accept the fact that they will always be this way. It is this frame of mind that you have to break out of in order to get your house ready to show. How your house looks will have an immense impact on how quickly it sells and whether or not you get full market value for it.

First impressions are very important and you only get to make one. Approach your property from the buyer’s standpoint. What needs to be changed to make a good first impression? This may mean that all you do is prune the trees and shrubs. On the other hand, it may mean that you completely repaint the house, inside and out. Do a “curb to door” check. Give the potential buyers a clear path to enter the home. The fewer obstacles between the buyer and the true appeal of your house the better. Keep in mind that over time we become accustomed to our surroundings. What’s normal for you may be detrimental to the buyer.

Make your house look as spacious as possible. Organize your closets and kitchen cabinets, and if you have things stored in the attic or basement, make sure they are presentable. If you are showing during the day, pull back your curtains and drapes to show how bright and cheery your home is. If you are showing at night, turn on all of the lights to create a warm and welcoming environment for the prospective buyers.

A house that is marked with your personality and style may be harder to sell. You might even consider such things as removing obvious clues to your political affiliation and tucking away any biased literature that may be visible. This will reduce distractions and help the buyers to visualize the home as their own.

As your agent, I can save you time and money by providing an objective and expert opinion on what needs to be changed or improved. I will know what buyers are looking for because I am in the marketplace everyday. I will perform an analysis of the entire property and, taking into account the state of the market in which you are selling your house, point you to the changes that need to be made in order to sell it for the most amount of money and as quickly as possible.